88

4
Prep News
Volume 88, Issue 01
NEWS
August 25, 2023
AMDG
Class of 2027 introduced to the
brotherhood during Convocation
Freshmen receiving a warm welcome from the rest of the school.
(continued from page 1)
classes had been seated, a
large section in the center of
the room, formerly occupied
by the Class of ’23, remained
empty. After a few minutes,
freshmen poured into the
Commons to fill the empty
space amidst thundering
applause and a rendition of
“Choose Joy” by the Symphonic
Band and Chamber
Orchestra.
The remainder of the
event contained reminders
on dress code, StuCo introductions,
a welcome to
new faculty, and speeches
by a number of faculty and
students, including Student
Body President Archie Carruthers,
Assistant Principal
for Student Life Brock Kesterson,
and President Alan
Carruthers.
“I think it was a great
way for the school to introduce
the freshmen and make
them feel welcome,” said junior
Gavin Moyich.
The idea for convocations
began over the summer.
Its predecessor, class
meeting days, had been perceived
as average and fine by
much of the school.
“We’re always reimagining
what those days look
like,” said Stewart. “As I was
coming into the job and
thinking through how to
start the year, and how important
beginnings are, first
impressions, all that kind
of stuff, I said, You know,
I think that since we don’t
love how we do these class
meeting days anyway, I’d
love for us to find a way to
begin together. Let’s have a
big convocation.”
A major inspiration for
the event was the fact that
SLUH as a school doesn’t
fully gather together very often,
other than class Masses
and the occasional Advisory
assembly.
“What if (on) the first
day of school, we started as
a school?” said Stewart. “To
begin together.”
To put this idea into action,
a committee of faculty
began talking through it in
May. Stewart, excited to begin
his tenure as principal at
SLUH, was ready to prepare
for the August event nearly
three months in advance.
After that, a meeting in July
was held with Stewart, Kesterson,
Assistant Principal
for Mission Jim Linhares,
science teacher Megan
Menne, and math teacher
Stephen Deves. The purpose
of the meeting was to really
flesh out what the convocation
would look like.
“We talked as a team, and
I helped brainstorm with
StuCo because they played
a huge part by being spirit
leaders and leading cheers.
We also had Archie Carruthers,
student body president,
give his address to the
students, so I worked with
the guys in StuCo by making
sure they were ready to
go and had everything prepared,”
said Deves.
Deves gives credit to
Stewart for the idea of inviting
the freshman into the
community as the frontand-center
focus of the
Commons seating arrangements.
“That was one of the
things he was really excited
about, giving the freshmen
a ceremonious welcome.
All of us on the committee
agreed that this was a wonderful
thought, and it turned
out to be very powerful,”
said Deves.
The convocation was the
first moment of a memorable
four years to come for
the Class of 2027.
“For me personally, I was
a student here for four years.
And then I’ve worked here
now for eight. Over those
years, this idea of brotherhood
and community has
looked different for each
stage in my life, but I absolutely
love this place,” said
Deves. “My colleagues and
my students here, in my time
as a teacher, have felt like a
strong community. When I
photo | Nick Sanders
was a teenager, I felt by the
end of my four years that
many of my classmates were
really my brothers.”
In addition, the convocation
couldn’t be complete
without music.
“Father Stewart, who
was a musician himself and
a great advocate for the arts,
asked a few weeks out (if we
could play),” said band director
Jeff Pottinger. “Which I
was like, ‘Absolutely, sounds
like a lot of fun.’ But it was
also scary.”
Initially, the plan was to
use a small group of very talented
musicians that could
play anything needed, but
that idea quickly grew into
something bigger.
“As I started thinking
about it, it seemed to me like
it would be better suited to
play something that was a
little bit more exciting,” said
Pottinger. “In my mind, I was
just going to play a pep band
song, a pop song. I started
to think (it) through and I
thought, everyone played
“Choose Joy” at the concert
last year, which means everybody
who’s a returning
student will know it.”
The song was also played
for Pope Francis’ entrance
into St. Peter’s Square when
the SLUH band was there
last year, being used once
again for the Class of 2027’s
entrance into the commons.
In the end, the convocation
acted as the spark for
not only the exciting new
year but the beginning of
the freshmen’s experience
together as brothers.
“I believe the convocation
was very positively
received,” said Deves. “For
me, having the whole community
together on the first
day, before any classes or lessons
whatsoever, was a very
powerful tone setter.”
Construction continues, building new
department offices and Campus Ministry
(continued from page 1)
Future Campus Ministry area.
start of the New Year.
The construction project
extends beyond SLUH’s
chapel and encompasses
broader aspects of the
school. SLUH’s chapel will
be reduced to two-thirds its
original size to accommodate
a brand new Campus
Ministry space on the main
floor. The second floor of
the space above Campus
Ministry will be transformed
into offices housing the English,
Math and Social Studies
departments.
SLUH’s chapel sits on the
northern part of the school,
connecting the J-Wing to the
rest of our school. Although
most of the alterations to the
chapel remain concealed behind
the walls lining freshman
and senior hallway,
there are some noticeable
changes to the exterior of the
chapel. New wooden beams
arch over both entrances to
SLUH’s chapel and the traditional
hallway space found
on both sides of the chapel
are partially blocked to allow
for construction to progress
without interruption.
“The new space in the
chapel is a lot of things,” said
President Alan Carruthers.
“It is everything from insulation
and a new roof, right
down to new foundational
components and additional
support systems in the foundation
to support both the
weight of the school and the
weight of the chapel and new
offices.”
“This is a big project,”
added Carruthers. “This is
an $8.1 million dollar project,
and $1.2 million is being
put into new electricity, but
really this is an investment
in our academic departments.”
In addition to the three
new department offices,
the construction project includes
a new second floor
conference room, a new
work room, and a kitchen.
This comprehensive
multi-million dollar project
will completely alter the
aesthetic of the once dim J-
Wing.
“That end of the building
will feel brighter, lighter,
and just be aesthetically eye
popping, and I think it’s going
to be really exciting for
everyone to see the chapel,”
said Carruthers.
Although the project
has been running smoothly
so far, it hasn’t been without
its hiccups. In the early
stages of renovations there
were some concerns about
the structural integrity of
the wall near the choir loft.
Despite this, SLUH administration
and the construction
team were able to effectively
work around the roadblock.
“The old choir loft wall,
Chapel progress continued over the summer and is expected to be
completed by 2024.
which had been a half wall,
was incorporated into the
wall of the English office,”
said Carruthers. “We didn’t
know that it was a heavy
duty support, so we had to
kind of think on the fly, and
were able to strengthen that
wall and put in new supports.”
Working through these
roadblocks has allowed for
the project to remain on the
originally outlined schedule,
and for a hopeful dedication
time before Lent.
“I think the prospective
end date is set for the beginning
of 2024, around the
New Year,” said Principal
Matt Stewart, SJ.
“If the construction is
done before Lent, we hope
to do a dedication of the new
space before the Lenten season,”
added Carruthers.
Ultimately, the goal of
the renovations has been
to effectively create a functional
space that honors and
revitalizes the chapel and the
school while functioning as
a meaningful work space for
faculty members around the
school.
“We are investing in
making Campus Ministry
and Christ the center of the
school,” added Carruthers “I
think it’s indicative of who
we are, but it also says that
we are here for another 100
years.”
photo | Patrick Byrne
photo | Vincent Weinbauer